Corridor Design Bloghttp://corridordesign.org/blog
News and views on wildlife corridors, linkages, connectivity, and GISendanmajka@gmail.comCopyright 20132013-06-22T00:45:49+00:00Dan MajkaGreat new resource for connectivity newshttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CorridorDesignBlog/~3/MD5tYdP1Nps/
http://corridordesign.org/blog/post/great_new_resource_for_connectivity_news/This is long overdue, but I wanted to let you know about a great resource put out by Nick Haddad at NC State called Conservation Corridor. Conservation Corridor tracks the latest news and peer-reviewed literature on wildlife corridors and connectivity, and aims to bridge the science and practice of conservation corridors.]]>2013-06-22T00:45:49+00:00http://corridordesign.org/blog/post/great_new_resource_for_connectivity_news/Dan MajkaThe CorridorDesigner toolbox works with ArcGIS 10.1http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CorridorDesignBlog/~3/mLA4qjy21pY/
http://corridordesign.org/blog/post/the_corridordesigner_toolbox_works_with_arcgis_10.1/I’ve been a bit lax in updating the CorridorDesign website, but just wanted to note that I’ve run through the CorridorDesigner toolbox tutorial without a hitch in ArcGIS 10.1. I apologize for taking so long to update the site. On a personal note, I’ve had a lot of changes over the past year (got married, moved across the country, new job, had a baby), and life got in the way of updating the website.

I still recommend running the tools through ArcCatalog, and using the full path to each dataset, instead of just a layer name (e.g. C:\GIS\Corridors\bear_hsm instead of just bear_hsm).

Like always, if you have any problems or questions about the CorridorDesigner toolbox, please send me an email, and I’ll try to respond as soon as possible.

]]>2013-05-15T23:50:35+00:00http://corridordesign.org/blog/post/the_corridordesigner_toolbox_works_with_arcgis_10.1/Dan MajkaDo wildlife corridors work? Earn $250 for suggesting a corridor sitehttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CorridorDesignBlog/~3/MUSfZFEtc6c/
http://corridordesign.org/blog/post/do_wildlife_corridors_work_earn_250_for_suggesting_a_corridor_site/Paul Beier and Andy Gregory of Northern Arizona University are looking for real live wildlife corridors, and will pay $250 if your suggested site is used in their upcoming study. They plan on testing, on a global scale, two questions:

Do conservation corridors work?

What are the characteristics of corridors that do work?

Here's a description of what they're looking for. If you have a site, check out their site, Do Corridors Work, now!

We (Paul Beier and Andy Gregory) need your help to find study sites at which we can assess the ability of big corridors (the sort of corridors typically proposed as conservation interventions) to promote long-term gene flow. Many studies have demonstrated that short linear features promote animal movement over short distances when the area outside the corridor is relatively natural, but we are interested in corridors over a half-mile long embedded in urban, row crop, or industrial areas. And we don’t want to measure success in terms of movement of individual animals; instead we will measure success in terms of long-term gene flow. Thus we need landscapes that have been stable for 20 to 50 years – long enough that the pattern of corridors and patches will have affected genetic patterns. We seek about 100 landscapes (each with 1 or more corridors) for our study, and we will study landscapes on all continents. We need many landscapes because doubtless some corridors provide gene flow across human-dominated areas, and other corridors fail to do so. With a large sample, we can identify what traits are associated with successful corridors.

Although we are highly selective about what landscapes we will study, we will study any reptile, amphibian, mammal, flightless arthropod, or sedentary bird that is likely to be found in the corridor, but not in the human-dominated matrix.

]]>Collaboration, In the news2011-08-03T02:18:58+00:00http://corridordesign.org/blog/post/do_wildlife_corridors_work_earn_250_for_suggesting_a_corridor_site/Dan MajkaLinkage Mapper GIS tool now availablehttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CorridorDesignBlog/~3/3vxmyB_9aJE/
http://corridordesign.org/blog/post/linkage_mapper_gis_tool_now_available/Brad McRae and Darren Kavanagh from The Nature Conservancy's Washington chapter recently released Linkage Mapper, a GIS tool designed to support regional wildlife habitat connectivity analyses. Linkage Mapper is an ArcGIS toolbox developed for the Washington Connected Landscapes Project, and is available for free to use on similar projects.

Linkage Mapper is a GIS tool designed to support regional wildlife habitat connectivity analyses. It consists of several Python scripts, packaged as an ArcGIS toolbox, that automate mapping of wildlife habitat corridors. We developed these scripts for the Washington Wildlife Habitat Connectivity Working Group’s (WHCWG) 2010 statewide connectivity analysis, and are making them public for use in other wildlife connectivity assessments.

Linkage Mapper uses GIS maps of core habitat areas and resistances to identify and map linkages between core areas. Each cell in a resistance map is attributed with a value reflecting the energetic cost, difficulty, or mortality risk of moving across that cell. Resistance values are typically determined by cell characteristics, such as land cover or housing density, combined with species-specific landscape resistance models. As animals move away from specific core areas, cost-weighted distance analyses produce maps of total movement resistance accumulated.

The scripts use ArcGIS and Numpy (numerical Python) functions to identify adjacent (neighboring) core areas and create maps of least-cost corridors between them. The scripts then normalize and mosaic the individual corridor maps to create a single composite corridor map. The result shows the relative value of each grid cell in providing connectivity between core areas, allowing users to identify which routes encounter more or fewer features that facilitate or impede movement between core areas.

]]>Connectivity tools, Corridor modeling2011-04-12T03:10:09+00:00http://corridordesign.org/blog/post/linkage_mapper_gis_tool_now_available/Dan MajkaDesert bighorn sheep documented using new wildlife overpasses along US-93http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CorridorDesignBlog/~3/vNLsDDAkPd8/
http://corridordesign.org/blog/post/desert_bighorn_sheep_documented_using_new_wildlife_overpasses_along_us-93/Arizona Game and Fish research biologist Jeff Gagnon recently announced on the Wildlife, Fisheries, and Transportation listserv that desert bighorn sheep have already been detected using the newly-constructed wildlife overpasses along US 93 in northwest Arizona.

For those of you that are not aware, AZ took on the task of locating (using GPS movement data) and constructing 3 wildlife overpasses for desert bighorn sheep beginning in 2004, these overpasses were just completed recently.

Although the funnel fences are not yet complete we have still documented sheep crossing overpasses on US 93 [...]

These are the first documented crossings of an overpass by desert bighorn sheep ever. This is at the overpass at MP 5.1. Near Hoover Dam, just across the river from Las Vegas.

]]>Arizona linkages, Crossing structures, In the news2011-02-15T01:42:37+00:00http://corridordesign.org/blog/post/desert_bighorn_sheep_documented_using_new_wildlife_overpasses_along_us-93/Dan MajkaCorridorDesigner tools now work with ArcGIS 10http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CorridorDesignBlog/~3/rtijkfzmt6Q/
http://corridordesign.org/blog/post/corridordesigner_tools_now_work_with_arcgis_10/I'm happy to report that Jeff Jenness was able to create an installation routine to install the CorridorDesigner evaluation tools in ArcGIS 10. Please note that there is a separate installation file for ArcGIS 10. If upgrading from 9.x to 10, you'll want to first uninstall the old version of the evaluation tools, if you were using them.

I also finally had a chance to test out the CorridorDesigner toolbox, and it seems to work fine in ArcGIS 10. Please let me know if you experience any problems when using the toolbox in ArcGIS 10 (or any version!), and I will work with you to try to figure them out.

]]>2010-12-08T23:54:55+00:00http://corridordesign.org/blog/post/corridordesigner_tools_now_work_with_arcgis_10/Dan MajkaCommon ArcToolbox Errorshttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CorridorDesignBlog/~3/vRnjKt4d9Y4/
http://corridordesign.org/blog/post/common_arctoolbox_errors/Three errors have come up repeatedly so far when using the CorridorDesigner toolbox:

Habitat Modeling error

PROBLEM: The Habitat Modeling tool crashes, and gives a text string such as this:

The tools were in a saved in the path H:\Dan\Corridors\CorridorDesign\CorridorDesigner\CorridorDesigner_v02. To fix this problem,
make sure that each of the folders begins with a different word. For example, you might have H:\Dan\tools\CorridorDesigner\. Sometimes when you unzip the tools after downloading them from our website, you get two nested folders with the same name, such as this: C:\CorridorDesigner_Toolbox_v02\CorridorDesigner_Toolbox_v02\... If this happens, simply copy the tools to the uppermost directory, then delete the nested folder.

Patch Modeling error

PROBLEM: The Patch Modeling tool crashes, and gives a text string such as this:

SOLUTION: The Patch Modeling tool crashes in ArcGIS 9.2 when none of the service packs have been installed.
To fix this bug (as well as a lot of others), you should downloaded the
latest service pack for ArcGIS, service pack 4. This is available on ESRI's site (scroll down 1/3 of the way to download ArcGISDesktop92sp4.msp, the 176 MB file).

To determine if you have installed any of the service packs, open ArcMap, and go to Help > About ArcMap. If the build number is 1324, you haven't installed any service packs yet. See ESRI's site for more information.

]]>GIS tips2010-12-08T12:15:47+00:00http://corridordesign.org/blog/post/common_arctoolbox_errors/Dan MajkaPost-doc opportunity with Paul Beier: do corridors work?http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CorridorDesignBlog/~3/n_NFXe9UJeY/
http://corridordesign.org/blog/post/post-doc_opportunity_with_paul_beier_do_corridors_work/Paul Beier has a post-doc opportunity to research how well corridors really work for conservation. Here is a description:

Most corridor research to date has occurred on small (< 100m long) corridors that are not embedded in human-dominated matrix. But a study of squirrel movement along a wooded fencerow through a pasture (or movement of salamanders in small artificial arenas, or movement of multiple species through 100-m long clearcut corridors between 1-ha clearcut patches in a forest matrix) will not help a conservation biologist trying to promote movement of these species through 5 km of urban or agricultural land. To determine the utility of wildlife corridors as a conservation intervention, we need to study corridors of appropriate scale embedded in human-dominated landscapes.

This 2-year study will identify at least 50 landscapes, each of which contains a wildlife corridor and at least one type of control site (i.e., either patches lacking corridors, or a large intact area), and will develop a proposal to use those landscapes to rigorously test the effectiveness of wildlife corridors. Despite many useful studies of corridors over the last 30 years, only 2 studies have (a) evaluated corridors that, like wildlife corridors, are over 1 km long and embedded in urban or agricultural areas, (b) used patterns of genetic relatedness to infer whether animals regularly used the corridor to successfully breed in recipient populations, and (c) compared levels of gene flow via the corridor to levels of gene flow between isolated patches or across a large intact area of similar extent. The corridors in these 2 studies did not maintain levels of gene flow observed in the nearby intact landscape; this is a discouraging finding for conservation planners. Doubtless some wildlife corridors are effective, but only a study of many replicate landscapes will identify what factors are associated with successful and unsuccessful corridors. This grant would fund the crucial first step to conduct a rigorous, replicated study – namely to identify appropriate landscapes that have been stable long enough for genetic patterns to reflect the degree of successful movement. Once a large sample of appropriate landscapes has been identified, we will develop a proposal using these landscapes to answer the question "Do conservation corridors work?"

If the larger proposal is successful, another 3-5 years of exciting research would follow, including the opportunity for the selected candidate to supervise graduate student projects.

This job is for 2 years, with potential for extension, at $45,000/year plus benefits. After the first year or work in Flagstaff, Arizona, USA, the scientist could move close to a major airport to facilitate travel to candidate landscapes around the world.

Applicant should have:

PhD in Conservation biology, landscape genetics, or closely related field

research experience and publication record in conservation biology or landscape genetics

]]>Collaboration2010-10-27T21:38:50+00:00http://corridordesign.org/blog/post/post-doc_opportunity_with_paul_beier_do_corridors_work/Dan MajkaConnectivity analysis toolkit now availablehttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CorridorDesignBlog/~3/vFGA_1Eg9hw/
http://corridordesign.org/blog/post/connectivity_analysis_toolkit_now_available/Carlos Carroll and the Klamath Center for Conservation have a new tool called the Connectivity Analysis Toolkit available for free download. Here's a description:

The Connectivity Analysis Toolkit provides conservation planners with newly-developed tools for both linkage mapping and landscape-level 'centrality' analysis. Centrality refers to a group of landscape metrics that rank the importance of sites as gatekeepers for flow across a landscape network. The Toolkit allows users to develop and compare three contrasting centrality metrics based on input data representing habitat suitability or permeability, in order to determine which areas, across the landscape as a whole, would be priorities for conservation measures that might facilitate connectivity and dispersal. The Toolkit also allows application of these approaches to the more common question of mapping the best habitat linkages between a source and a target patch.

Arizona is putting the brakes on some of its wildlife road-crossing projects aimed at making sure cars don't collide with elk, deer and other animals.

Environmentalists say this reverses years of work to make highways safer for both people and wildlife.

But state officials say they want to spend their federal funds on other transportation needs. And a limited-government advocate applauds the state's actions.

Since late June, the Arizona Department of Transportation has canceled two previously approved crossing projects and tabled work on three studies - all federally financed - of other crossings. Officials say they weren't in the agency's best interest, hadn't gone through proper reviews or needed more study.

The canceled projects may get financed through other sources, while the federal money assigned to them will be switched to other eligible projects, the state says. Projects eligible for the $17.8-million-a-year federal pot include those benefiting pedestrians and bicyclists, historic preservation, landscaping, protection of scenic easements and tourist-welcoming facilities.

The department has also let go of a longtime consultant who was its most visible advocate of wildlife crossings, as part of a broader move to save money on consultants. It also let go its staff supervisor of the crossing projects.